The wait is over for 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan.
Sullivan scored his first two senior goals for the Philadelphia Union in Thursday’s 7-0 second leg victory over Defence Force in CONCACAF Champions Cup action. The U.S. youth national team standout also added two assists as Bradley Carnell’s men rolled their way into the Round of 16 after an 12-0 aggregate scoreline.
Geiner Martinez opened the scoring for the Union in the seventh minute before Jovan Lukic doubled the hosts lead from the penalty spot three minutes later.
Sullivan set up Stas Korzeniowski to make it 3-0 in the 12th minute, giving the homegrown midfielder his second assist of the tournament.
Korzeniowski extended Philadelphia’s lead to 4-0 early in the second half before Sullivan teed up Ben Bender for his first club goal before the hour mark.
Sullivan added to the scoring with 14 minutes to play, drilling home a left-footed shot into the back of the net. He became the youngest American goalscorer in Champions Cup history with the finish.
The young midfielder would then add his second goal before the final whistle, finishing off Sal Olivas’ cross with a simple tap in.
The Union would advance to the Round of 16, setting up a date with Liga MX heavyweights Club America.
IV,
They won’t be short of “injury” bodies.
Thunderdome began the day Pochettino got here; these things take time.
It’s not 2006 anymore. Unless Cavan has a legit shot at playing in the WC the coaching staff will be way too busy focusing on 2026 not 20fucking30.
Focus on real players not PR stunts.
Cavan will get plenty of exposure to the big time when he tries to break into Man City’s first team.
Until he earns a shot he shouldn’t be anywhere near the WC team.
i’d like to see cavan sullivan in pre world cup camp for a tryout like mike bradley got in 2006. i think you want your leading prospect in that camp getting a sense what the level is like, what professionalism is expected, getting high level coaching, etc. even if he’s cut.
that and the way to resolve reyna vs mckennie vs weah vs aaronson vs luna vs tillman vs zendejas etc. is put them in one camp and thunderdome it. everyone has to train and play hard, reyna can’t jog through practices, and you pick the best at the end.
but anyhow, as the lead youth prospect, sullivan should be there just to soak it all in.
personally i think it’s a control thing where the roster in the coach’s head, and his control over it, encounters outside forces if you call more than you can keep. someone could get visibly outplayed. the team might see it and have their own opinions.
and heck, i’d rather see sullivan than zendejas, for one.
and we need bodies for injuries anyway.
I don’t think a performance against Defense Force’s B Team necessitates a NT call up. Are we bringing in Korzeniowski he also had a brace. Rick had two clean sheets. Papi Grande calls me a Sullivan Fanboy and I don’t think he’s at that point based on this performance. If you can’t beat out Indiana Vassilev at your club you probably shouldn’t be there. The guys playing for Defense Force aren’t even good enough to make the Trinidad squad the GC team squashed. If he has a couple good MLS matches before camp great then we can talk but based on u17s and some TnT “pros”, not enough for me.
Defense Force was pretty bad. They had one guy that played in the GC for TnT. At least last week Joevin Jones and Kevin Molino started (which would have been tough 10 yrs ago, but both are well past it). Their jerseys were pretty cool though, so at minimum they looked good while playing poorly.
The only reason these teams look bad now is because MLS and the US are finally producing fruits from their labor. Meaning the academy systems are much better and are now producing soccer players who are athletes. And with the college system getting revamped it now becomes pseudo academy systems too. Still aways to go with MLS academy systems, but promising days are coming much quicker.
5-10 years ago MLS teams were struggling with results against this same T&T club team.
Yes and no. The depth of MLS is better because of academies and larger salary caps, but Covid and other economic struggles have hurt island leagues. The expansion of USL teams have also attracted players from teams like Defense Force. Guys now will come play NCAA and then stay in USL which limits quality in Jamaica, Trinidad, etc…
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LAG and Vancouver still struggled so sometimes it’s match up too. Trinidad teams are usually athletic but not very technical. That style doesn’t adapt well to face the Union high press.
2 goals and 2 assists. Cavan era is starting.
He was 44 percent of the Union offense.
My bad he was 57 percent of the Union offense.